Sea mines are explosive charges used in water against vessels and submarines. Sea mines are regularly utilized for blocking an area of sea. To protect seagoing vessels or convoys of seagoing vessels from the dangers of mines, mine-free routes are created in order to steer the vessels through a mine-free route. When hunting for mines, individual mines are located and later deactivated or detonated deliberately.
As is known, sea mines are located with the help of sonar devices. The sonar device is normally installed on board a mine-hunting vessel traveling on the surface, whereby location data in the underwater area are recorded and evaluated. Detection of a contact is followed by classification of the detected contact as a mine-like contact or a non-mine-like contact.
If a mine-like contact is detected, the next step is to identify the mine, for which conventional mine-identifying divers or remote-controlled underwater drones are deployed.
If the identification reveals that the sonar device has, in fact, recorded the location data of a sea mine, the next step in the procedure is to deactivate or detonate the mine or else to steer the seagoing vessels to be protected from the sea mines around the mine identified.
Thereby, as is known, underwater vessels, specially equipped for this mission with an explosive charge for destroying sea mines, are deployed.
The creation or detection of a mine-free passage through a mined area of sea using the means known is a very time-consuming process, since all sea mines have to be detected and identified by deploying several vessels. As the detection of location data is necessary for mine-hunting and the mine-hunting vessel, with its hull-mounted sonar device, must travel at least close to the mined area of sea or travel directly into the minefield, this additionally poses a considerable risk to the manned support platform. In order to protect the manned vessel, the speed of the convoy of vessels to be protected must also be reduced.